Skip to main content

US traffic congestion grows in 2013

Highway traffic congestion in the United States grew 6 per cent in 2013 compared with the previous year, more than three times the rate of inflation, according to traffic tracking firm Inrix. The rate compared with the gross domestic product increase of 1.9 per cent last year, Inrix said. Europe saw a similar increase in traffic congestion. Los Angeles saw the worst traffic congestion in 2013, Inrix said. The average driver there wasted 64 hours in traffic throughout the year, an 8.5 per cent increase
March 10, 2014 Read time: 1 min

Highway traffic congestion in the United States grew 6 per cent in 2013 compared with the previous year, more than three times the rate of inflation, according to traffic tracking firm 163 Inrix.

The rate compared with the gross domestic product increase of 1.9 per cent last year, Inrix said. Europe saw a similar increase in traffic congestion.

Los Angeles saw the worst traffic congestion in 2013, Inrix said. The average driver there wasted 64 hours in traffic throughout the year, an 8.5 per cent increase over 2012.

Honolulu, San Francisco, Austin, Texas and New York City rounded out the top five most congested metropolitan areas, and all saw large increases in 2013.

Inrix’s data found that cities with large growth in economic activity saw the most significant congestion increases.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Strong demand for TIGER grants
    May 16, 2014
    Applications to the US Department of Transportation for its sixth round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants totalled US$9.5 billion, 15 times the US$600 million set aside for the program, demonstrating the continued need for transportation investment nationwide, according to an announcement by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. The Department received 797 eligible applications, compared to 585 in 2013, from 49 states, US territories and the District of Columbia.
  • Fast-growing fleet management systems market show no sign of slowing
    July 18, 2016
    According to a new research report from M2M/IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of active fleet management systems deployed in commercial vehicle fleets in North America was 5.8 million in Q4-2015. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.0 per cent, this number is expected to reach 12.7 million by 2020. In Latin America, the number of active fleet management systems is expected to increase from 2.3 million in Q4-2015, growing at a CAGR of 12.8 percent to reach 4.1 million in 2020. The
  • Moscow is world’s most gridlocked city, says Inrix
    February 21, 2019
    Moscow is the most gridlocked city in the world, according to a survey of snarl-ups by Inrix. The company’s annual Global Traffic Scorecard found that road users in the Russian capital lost 210 hours last year because of congestion. Inrix weights the data for population, and found that the next four cities on the congestion roll-call were Istanbul, Turkey; Bogota, Colombia; Mexico City; and São Paulo, Brazil. Brazil had another entry on this unwanted list, with Rio de Janeiro in seventh place. Russ
  • Emissions reductions targets to have major impact on transport
    October 28, 2015
    As bold moves aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions have been introduced in California, David Crawford looks at the ramifications for transportation. California Governor Jerry Brown’s recent dramatic raising of the bar on emissions reduction policy for the state has won him praise from Japan, Australia, Europe and the secretariat of the critical UN conference on climate change being held in Paris in November/December 2015. His April 2015 executive order aimed at bringing emissions to 40% below 1990 lev